Gosh, holiday time is so great, isn't it? And wow, it can be really hard too.This year alone I have lost three people who were very important in my life and it makes my days go from up beat and excited to down and sad.

I wanted to start a topic where we can mention the people we miss because sometimes we just need to say their names, to share a bit about them, to let others know we may be hurting. Sharing can help.

So yes, it is a giveaway, just because I know the topic is less likely to die (yup, morbid humor can help too) in this forum than any other. I will use a random generator and one poster will win . You can share whatever you like about a person you miss, even if they are still alive. Share stories, relationships or just names. Whatever helps you feel a bit better.

This year I lost Chris, the father of my children and his grandmother, Pauline. Pauline was an amazing woman who lived through the depression, worked in factories during WW2 and so many other things. I also lost my mom this year. Trying to think of something to post about her but the words escape me. She was my mom and that says it all.

pinging you guys to get the ball rolling here. ❤

Disclaimer: I did not create this topic to elicit any sympathy. Just thought it would be good for us to share. Thank you to those of you who do. It is a hard thing. Also, please do not be offended if I do not respond to each of you individually. I did not realize how hard it was going to be to read all of these. I am so sorry, each of you, for your losses.

Aw, this is actually perfect for me during the holiday season despite the darkness of it.

I lost my mom on Labor Day this year. She fought lung cancer for two years, and it had spread to her bones and brain as well. My daughter was only four months old when she was diagnosed and 1 1/2 when she had to go into a nursing home. I've always been ecstatic she had been able to attend at least her first birthday.

She was my best friend and I miss her every single day. The holiday season is hard but I'm pushing through.

Just the op makes me cry so I am going to be brief. Bigs hugs and love to you , I can't imagine dealing with all that.

I will send my hugs in advance to everyone who has lost someone as I don't think I can come back here without floods of tears.

I luckily haven't lost anyone this year but my friend died last November and event times this year have made me sad as it's the first time I haven't been able to share them with her. She could be quite quiet sometimes but we got on really well and she always put up with my waffle and understood where I was coming from. I really miss her sometimes.

[edit] hugs for you too :)

Thank you <3

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It would be so hard for me to come on during holidays without them around. <3

thanks for sharing. My mom fought lung cancer for 6 years. My daughter and I are much older than you and I am sorry sorry you lost your mom at such an early time in your life. Cancer sucks ass.

losing even virtual friends is hard! Especially for those of us who spend more time in the virtual world than outside our doors. Thank you for telling us about your friend.

Oh wow, i am so sorry for your loss, that is a lot of people :(

My grandma passed away now 5 years ago due to lung cancer and i still miss her terribly

In the last four years I have lost so many very special people, first my father, then my grandmother, next my aunt, my best friend since junior high - mother, my brother this year my step dad and one of my favorite uncles. All of that has made appreciate how important it is to love and be kind to the people you still have here.

To all of you, I am crying for your loss and mine. Thank you for making this topic. I just lost my husband to brain cancer, and the pain is almost too much to bear. I get on the internet to try to keep my mind occupied/distracted as friends/family are occupied in RL with the Holidays. I loved him so, he was my life. It's not being alone, it's being without him.

thank you all for sharing. I am so sorry for all of your losses. So sorry.

I think we can all agree that the world experienced a huge loss when Nelson Mandela passed away...

oh my, yes. Though not a personal grief it is certainly a huge loss for the world. Thank you for posting.

I moved a few months ago, so I really miss my family and my best friends back home. I have two grandfathers who have passed and I miss them both. And this will sound a bit ridiculous, but all the pets I have lost. I really miss them too.

So grateful for who I do have left, and the fact that I don't have such recent losses as many people do.

Thank you for this. And I am so sorry for everyone's losses. ❤ We lost my dad on St. Patricks day in 1991. We are Irish. Dad's birthday is December 14th and we always put up the tree on that date. I miss that. Christmas has never been the same for my family. We lost my grandmother (dad's mom) in 1998. I miss her terribly. We lost my Aunt Helen two years ago, and my mother hasn't been the same since. Now my mom is suffering from dementia, and she forgets so many things. I most fear the day that she forgets me. Yep, right now I really miss my mom.

This year I lost my dad who was my best friend and mentor. He taught me about unconditional love, patience, laughter and acceptance of the way things are and how to get through the rough patches. And as much as I'll miss him on Christmas, I'll miss him the most New Years Eve. We had a long time tradition of me calling him at midnight to wish him a Happy New Year. Of course, I'll be looking up this year when I say it to him, probably with tears in my eyes. ❤

Thank you for this topic and so sorry for your losses.

This year I lost my brother-in-law. For many years he had been ill in a way that affected his personality and his family was mourning the boy and the young man he'd been before his illness. I never knew that person, but I did love and respect the man he had become in spite of his illness. It was very hard feeling like the only person who was mourning this man, while everyone else was mourning the person he might have become without his illness. Its the first, and only time, that I've ever felt alone in my grief.

Oh man. This is so hauntingly appropriate. Truth be told I come from a horribly dysfunctional family and ever since my grandfathers passing 16 years ago - the holidays have never been the same. However, we always had Christmas Eve at my Grandmothers house, more so than anything to honor him - and keep the tradition alive for her. She passed away this June. I didn't get to see her last Christmas thanks to my psychotic aunt, and this year...Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Years, is going to be so goddamn hard. I pretty much just cried all of Thanksgiving, didn't cook, didn't go out...made some turkey sandwiches for the kids, that's about all I could manage.

I've been blessed in the fact that all the people I've lost have been..well..older, for those of you who have lost younger people, I cannot even begin to express my condlences to you. I did however also find out that my biological father died several years ago, and I never got to meet him. I found out right after my grandmother passed too - so really - the past 6 months has been incredibly difficult for me deep inside my head.

In October I had to put my eldest cat to sleep as well, he was the first kitty I ever had - got him at 4 weeks old when his mother abandoned him in a garage. I nursed him back from the brink of death...and then I had to hold him when we left this world. It was hard, harder than I like to admit.

I have a new kitten now - who happens to have Feline Leukemia, so I'm not even sure how long she'll be with us..so that makes everything with her a bit bittersweet, though she is healthy right now. :)

The holidays are tough, but I'm trying. I have a 4.5 and 3 year old and they deserve all the happiness of the holidays that I had as a child.

It's just hard to keep in perspective that this is all a part of life.

Oh I can't even imagine, I'm so so sorry. hugs

Thanks for pinging me, believe it or not, I needed this. I'm sorry for all your losses - and it's not at all strange to miss your pets, sometimes those pure, innocent relationships are the hardest to move on from. ❤️

My heart is with you all ❤️ you guys too ❤️

Thank you for this beautiful topic.

I lost my grandmother to lungcancer. She was a such a sweet person, I really miss her. It was hard to see her suffer and it was so hard in the final days... She always said she wanted to see my 18th birthday but she never made it that far. I'm 29 now but it still hurts.

And this is going to sound strange but I also miss a person that I've never known, which is the mother of my boyfriend. She died of cancer a couple of years before I met my boyfriend. Everyone is always talking about how sweet and caring she was. I'm the only one in the family who never knew her, and I really wish I did, she sounds like an amazing person.

I'm sorry to hear about your losses this year, but thank you for starting this topic. I think a lot of people will find it helpful to be able to share.

The holidays are hard for me because I'm so far away from my family... so I miss all of them terribly, especially my mom. We're very close and I worry about her so much. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to her. My grandmother too, she's getting older and really beginning to slow down.

I lost my aunt (her name was Luningning but the family called her Baby) this year and I wasn't able to go home for her funeral. She was kind of wacky, tacky, loud and silly, and things just won't be the same without her loud cackle at our family parties. She and my grandmother are the loudest in our family, and if they started laughing together you could hear them wherever you were.

I also miss my great grandmother, who passed away in 2007, but she was such a large part of my childhood, I miss her every day.

And to everyone who's posted before me and everyone who posts after, I'm sorry for all of your losses too.

I am so very sorry for your losses. And for those who will post after me.

Monday, Sept 9, 2013 at 3:17am I lost my mom from lung issues mostly. She was my world. The only person who has been with me even before I was born. She was a wife and mother. And after her death, I had the privilege to see her as others did. I am trying very hard to accept this. I'm still trying to figure out how to live without her. The truth is my dad and I just want the holidays and this horrible year to be over.

Thanks so much ...Christmas always makes me a wee bit blue as we lost my Dad in December three years ago. Time passes and you find yourself thinking of all the happy moments, but then December rolls around and the bittersweet feeling starts to take hold in the midst of all the lights and festivity. I tend to look up at the beautiful stars that sparkle so bright at this time of year and say a little prayer in his memory. Miss u Pa... ❤